Episode Tag to 'This Mortal Coil'
Rodney watched John leave the lab and then looked around carefully to make sure that he was alone. Selecting a knife from his collection of tools, he hesitated, and then swiftly ran it over his palm.
Crimson blood welled up and spread across his hand. Just as quickly though, the cut healed as the nanites inside his body repaired the torn flesh.
They had discussed it between them – him and the other Rodney, the real Rodney. It was obvious that only one of them could return to Atlantis, though they hadn't anticipated that the other Asurans would arrive to wipe them out.
It had been the other Rodney's idea to switch places. He'd felt that it was vital to the survival of the Atlantis expedition that a Rodney McKay was there to keep the city intact, and with the nanites enabling him to heal rapidly, the newer Rodney was the logical choice.
With the two of them working together, it had been a simple matter to modify the nanites inside Rodney to avoid detection from scans, and to ensure that they would not be vulnerable to EMP attacks. It would hardly be helpful for Rodney to be killed because one of his experiments emitted an EMP pulse.
The others had all gone their separate ways, and it had been the work of moments to change clothes, and swap essential information about their lives so far. The new Rodney had been based on a slightly earlier version of the original Rodney, so events like Samantha Carter's promotion to head of Atlantis and the visitation by the seer was all news to him.
When the news arrived about the Asuran ship appearing over the planet, Rodney had offered to switch back with the original – this had not been part of their bargain. The original Rodney had simply shook his head firmly. "This is why Atlantis needs you more," he had said. "You'll be able to locate the Asurans, find out what they're up to, and stop them. Look after Atlantis for me, okay?"
And then he was gone, taking off with the others in the jumper in order to allow one team to survive. Rodney watched in horror as the small ship was shot out of the sky and plummeted to the ground. "Goodbye Rodney," he whispered quietly, as he stepped through the gate into his city, the city that the other Rodney had sacrificed everything to give him.
Even over the space of a few months he'd changed, recent events leaving a heavy toll in his heart. Rodney only hoped that when the time came, he could find it in himself to make the same sacrifices to preserve Atlantis, and all who called her home.
Sitting alone in the lab, he shivered slightly as he recalled the other Rodney's account of Jeannie's recent brush with nanites, and what John had done to save her, to prevent him from sacrificing himself to save her. If John ever found out that the original Rodney had managed to give himself up in order to increase the city's chances of survival, Rodney wasn't sure what he'd do. He just knew for certain that he didn't want to find out.